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"On the evening of May 13, 1861, General Benjamin Butler and 1,000 Union soldiers arrived at Baltimore's Camden Street Station by train. Under the cover of a thunderstorm, they fortified Federal Hill to ensure the city of Baltimore remained under Union control, after the Pratt Street Riot less than a month earlier."

Collections Online

Welcome to the Maryland Historical Society’s Collections Online Database. Browse through both Museum Department collections and the Special Collections Department of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library by subject or by medium. Here you will see paintings, photographs, manuscripts, decorative arts pieces, lithographs, and more.

With well over one million items housed at MdHS, this database contains merely a fraction of what can be found in the combined collections. Information contained in the records of the Collections Online Database is subject to change as a result of ongoing research.

Description:
Painted silk, fringe by Mrs. John Leeds Kerr. The banner features a spread eagle holding a shield and arrow with the motto "Pro Aris Et Focis" and "The Juvenile Corps". The Juvenile Corps were from Easton, Maryland. War of 1812. Gift of Kenneth C. Kerr.

Restrictions:
For more information, please contact the Museum Department: museum@mdhs.org

Rights:
Copy of original owned by the Maryland Historical Society. For reproduction and permission information, please contact imagingservices@mdhs.org

Description:
To the Brethren of I.O.O.F. This print representing the distinguishing characteristics of Odd Fellowship Benevolence, is respectfully dedicated to the Author. Lithograph and print by E. Sachse & Co., 1859.

Restrictions:
For more information, please contact the Special Collections Department: specialcollections@mdhs.org

Rights:
Copy of original owned by the Maryland Historical Society. For reproduction and permission information, please contact imagingservices@mdhs.org

Description:
"Punt Gun," as named by market hunters for game birds in the Chesapeake area. Mining the Museum: An Installation by Fred Wilson. Maryland Historical Society, 1992-1993. Joint exhibition with The Contemporary in Baltimore.

Restrictions:
For more information, please contact the Museum Department: museum@mdhs.org

Rights:
Copy of original owned by the Maryland Historical Society. For reproduction and permission information, please contact imagingservices@mdhs.org

Description:
Defence [sic] of Fort M'Henry. First printed version of The Star-Spangled Banner. "The annexed song was composed under the following circumstances--A gentleman had left Baltimore, in a flag of truce for the purpose of getting released from the British fleet, a friend of his who had been captured at Marlborough.--He went as far as the mouth of the Patuxent, and was not permitted to return lest the intended attack on Baltimore should be disclosed. He was therefore brought up the Bay to the mouth of the Patapsco, where the flag vessel was kept under the guns of a frigate, and he was compelled to witness the bombardment of Fort M'Henry [sic], which the Admiral had boasted that he would carry in a few hours, and that the city must fall. He watched the flag at the Fort through the whole day with an anxiety that can be better felt than described, until the night prevented him from seeing it. In the night he watched the Bomb Shells, and at early dawn his eye was again greeted by the proudly waving flag of his country."

Restrictions:
For more information, please contact the Special Collections Department: specialcollections@mdhs.org

Rights:
Copy of original owned by the Maryland Historical Society. For reproduction and permission information, please contact imagingservices@mdhs.org

Description:
Horseman's Sabre, ca. 1808-1830. Possibly made by Derringer or J.J. Henry, contracted by the State of Maryland in 1811. Used by Elijah Stansbury of Captain Montgomery's Baltimore Union Artillery, at the Battle of North Point, Baltimore, War of 1812. Note: Case for sabre is 1897.3.1b.

Restrictions:
For more information, please contact the Museum Department: museum@mdhs.org

Rights:
Copy of original owned by the Maryland Historical Society. For reproduction and permission information, please contact imagingservices@mdhs.org